


Everyone’s Favourite Idol: Nico

by Moons-and-Glassware (PorcelainCas)



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types
Genre: Crossdressing, First Kiss, Fluff and Crack, Idol Outfits, M/M, Mentioned Yazawa Nico, Mistaken Identity, Misunderstandings, Playing Love Live! School Idol Festival, Post-The Blood of Olympus, Ridiculousness, Shy Nico
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-24
Updated: 2017-04-25
Packaged: 2018-10-23 06:22:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,323
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10713963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PorcelainCas/pseuds/Moons-and-Glassware
Summary: While Nico is out of commission, Will hears someinsidiousfunnythings around camp said about him...Shenanigans ensue.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i'm back from hell called ~~failing~~ university
> 
> yes, I should be updating my multichapter fic after <1 year but I'll need to reread it first so I decided to write this as a foray back into fanfic writing again because style loss due to not writing for a long time. Will have relatively short chapters. (also, the new official artwork of the characters are lit af help me)
> 
> post-BoO, and can be seen as a coda (pre-ToA)

“Nico nii!”

Will’s head shot up immediately, eyes narrowing as he tried to find the source of the sound that echoed in his cabin. A few moments passed with no other peep besides some gaming music playing in the background, he turned back to focus on his laptop, trying to research about the latest “Improved” Nectar put out by Amazon. If it was legit, he could really use it since Nico had been totally out of it since Will forced him to rest at the infirmary.

‘At least three days’ in the infirmary soon turned into five days, six days, and now a week. Will was getting seriously worried that something was up, but Nico reassured the other boy that he was recovering every time he visited. Will really tried to limit his visits so he wouldn’t seem like he was being too obsessive, but anxiety was crawling from his heart to his throat at the thought of Nico disappearing due to the over-usage of his abilities. He could _not_ have that happen. Not on his watch. Not when he could do something about it.

“ _Lo-ve_ Nico!”

Will looked up away from his laptop again, sitting very still. He could have sworn that he heard a young girl’s voice calling out Nico’s name in a cutesy-nickname way, including the word _love_ but maybe he was just –

“Nico nico nii!”

Will closed his laptop and got out of his bed to investigate the source of the sound. There were a couple other demigods in the cabins right now but none of them seemed even slightly bothered by the sound other than Will. He couldn’t explain _why_ it annoyed him – it probably had to do with the fact that, well, whoever was saying Nico’s name like that…

Anyways, Will just didn’t like the overly-cutesy nickname coming from someone who probably didn’t even know Nico nor interacted with him. Nico went by _Nico_ , not _Nico Nii_. And something about the whole _Love Nico_ thing said by some girl that Will didn’t even know unsettled him in kind of a possessive way that he wasn’t willing to admit.

“Nico!”

Will closed his eyes for a second and winced. There was something ear-grating about that high-pitched ‘ _Nico!_ ’ that raised by several octaves on the last note. Getting up to follow where the sound came from, he could only see one of the younger demigods – around eleven or twelve years old – playing a game on her tablet. Otherwise, everyone was occupied with whatever they were doing – sharpening arrows, waxing poetry, or ordering restocks on medical supplies.

The girl whom he was standing in front of looked up at him, now aware of his presence. “Um, yes?” she squeaked, turning off her tablet and cutting the game music along with it.

Will opened his mouth, closed it, then opened it again: “Um.” He didn’t know what to ask – ‘Hey, did someone call out Nico’s name a few times? What’s going on?’ As if he needed his crush on the other boy to be made more obvious, especially to his own cabinmates and siblings. Besides, if someone wanted to talk about Nico, who was Will to intrude? He wasn’t Nico's  _boyfriend_. (Even though he wanted to be very much.) She was staring at him in confusion now, and he quickly made up something from the top of his head: “Want to lead the campfire sing-a-long tonight?” The second the words left his mouth, Will wished that he could grab them back. What was he thinking, imposing such a big task on his younger sibling? It took a lot of planning and –

The girl jolted up so fast that she almost knocked her tablet off her lap. “Ohmygod yes! Yes times a million! Oh my god!”

Before Will could regret his poorly-thought out decision, she jumped out of the bed and hugged Will tightly around his midsection, causing the head counselor to let out a yelp and stumble backward at the sudden weight. “Thank you so much, Will!”

Will softened and patted the top of her head lightly. After seeing her enthused reaction, he didn’t have the heart in him to tell her _no, whoops, that was a slip of the tongue – I didn’t mean it_. Besides, that would have been a cold-hearted move, and she sounded like she had been thinking of a sing-a-long layout plan for a long time anyway.

She pulled away from the hug with a huge gummy grin. “I have _so_ many songs ready for this! Though I might have to print out the lyrics and pass them along to everyone. Do you think it’s going to be okay?”

“I guess so–”

“Can we start printing them now? How many songs can I do? I have a few I want to do _for sure_ so I don’t want to miss out on them and we need enough so that they circulate. I can’t really trust the Romaji translations online because they don’t really express how to say the words, you know? So in my free time I did some transcribing so we need to copy those ones.” She was barely even paying attention to Will anymore, looking for something lost in her drawers and throwing pieces of paper on the ground that had markings all over it. She finally jumped up, holding a worn notebook in her hands like a prized possession. “Found it!”

Will scratched the back of his neck. “Well, okay let’s go do some copying at the Big House for tonight then.” He offered his sibling a smile and she beamed back at him.

At her bright demeanour, his hesitancy disappeared and he couldn’t even find it in himself to regret his slip-up as they walked over to the Big House while the younger demigod skipped and hummed songs.


	2. Chapter 2

After they got to copying dozens of lyric sheets, Will slipped away for a moment to check in the infirmary with a quick “I’ll be back in a second” while the younger demigod was cheerfully stacking and organizing the sheets of paper.

When he entered the infirmary, his eyes went immediately to Nico curled up in the comforter, only a dark mass of hair sticking out. An involuntary smile made its way to Will’s lips and he ducked his head a little bit, feeling a shy blush on his cheeks. Something about the way Nico looked was so _domestic_ and _soft_ , and it made Will feel all warm and float-y around his chest.

He was about to back away and leave Nico in peace to sleep when Nico suddenly shifted, pushing off the comforter and turning around to face Will. A sleepy sort of smile crossed his lips. “Hi,” Nico said, his voice slightly raspy from disuse.

Will’s heart was beating very fast now; the vulnerability was something that Nico _never_ showed around anybody, but now Will was witnessing the tenderness in the soft but sleepy curve of his lips and his half-closed eyes as he snuggled into the pillow like it was home.

“Hey there,” Will said while he approached Nico’s bedside. Up close now, Will noted that colour was beginning to return to Nico’s cheeks, though it did nothing to lessen his worry for Nico’s health. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, I’m – I should be okay,” Nico said, the same thing he said every time Will came to visit him. At this point, Will was scared of feeding him anymore Ambrosia or Nectar in case he was giving him too much. “I don’t know – I’ve just needed to rest for the past few days. It’s been…a long time since I’ve gotten some decent rest.”

Will grimaced, wanting to hug the other boy tightly and cuddle in the blankets with him until he felt better. “Yeah, I know. I understand. I’m just worried.” He ran his hand through his hair, wondering if he sounded silly or was overstepping his boundaries or something. For all he knew, Nico wasn’t interested in him. Sure, they might have done some flirting so that Will could get him in bed (the infirmary bed, that is), but Nico had been so out of it that Will wasn’t sure if there was anything going on between them. Well, for now he would let Nico recover until he was better before he’d open that can of worms.

“I’m happy that you’re concerned,” was all Nico said before he dipped right back into sleep. Will sighed, unable to figure out if that was a cryptid way of Nico telling him that he might have feelings for him too. Nonetheless, Will still had hope that there was _something_ between them – something that went further than just heated stares and charged conversations. Or soothing ones – like the ones he shared with a recovering, sleepy Nico.

He gently pulled the covers over Nico’s sleeping body before he left the infirmary and returned back to his younger sibling.

 

When Will said _sing-a-long_ , his sibling probably misheard it as _dance concert_.

He wasn’t sure _what_ he expected with all the elaborateness she had in mind, but certainly not seeing her decked out in a frilly dress in varying shades of pink with bows in her hair. Will wasn’t really sure what to say – he had just handed the lyrics sheets that they had printed out earlier that day to the campers and waited for the star of the show’s arrival – she had said she needed to ‘prepare’ something first, and now Will knew what she meant by that.

Annabeth was giving him a very confused look at the moment and Will didn’t know how to react except to shrug and hope that nothing went horribly wrong. He stood up to announce the beginning of the sing-a-long, hoping that he didn’t sound _too_ confused. “Hey guys, so today we’re, uh, going to do something unconventional. I’m sure you all have your lyrics sheets so uh, do what you guys do best and sing along and have fun!” He winced at the sudden sharpness at the end of his words, sounding like false enthusiasm even to his own ears.

“But,” Cecil said, putting his hand up as the first to protest, “the lyrics aren’t in English.”

Oh.

“Huh?” Will looked down at the lyric sheets in his hands. He had only read the titles of some of the songs, which were decidedly English, but on a longer glance, he could see they were English words put together to mimic sounds of another language. From the looks of it, it was probably Japanese. “Um.” He looked up blankly to see everybody staring up at him expectantly. Being completely caught up in thoughts of Nico had consequences – like causing this colossal mess-up by not read the fine-print.

“It’s okay!” his sibling piped in, her spirit unbroken by skeptical old demigods. “I’m going to sing and dance and then you guys can sing along!” She looked over at a pair of demigods across the campfire – Chiara and Valentina, who had a keyboard and a violin with them. They nodded and began to play the instrumental melody and Will was left wondering _how the hell did this happen and how did they set up something like this so fast_.

Of course, being a daughter of Apollo, his sibling had a captivating singing voice matched with the enthusiastic rhythm of the song that brought vigor into the campers like they were sitting in the front row seats to a sold-out pop concert. Gradually, people began to join in, though there was more sounding out of the words on a page than singing actual meaning via the words because not everybody was quite sure what any of the words meant. Will found himself singing along anyway as loudly and clueless as most of the other campers.

Meanwhile, the demigod was twirling and dancing, sequins on her dress sparkling in the firelight as she sang. It was actually kind of impressive and not a total mess like he feared it would be.

Then suddenly, blatantly obvious in the lyrics –

“Nico nico nii!”

Everyone chanted along cheerfully and the moment slipped away but Will halted in confusion, his brain stuck on the few words on the page. He didn’t know the song, so he had no idea what it meant and if it even belonged there or if she had just put it in for fun. Was she calling out Nico? What? Will had never felt so confused in his life, but apparently, nobody else found it shocking.

The demigod reached the end of the song, bowed amongst the cheers before the next song started. Will barely had any time to dwell on _why_ Nico’s name was in the lyrics in the same manner that he heard earlier today. Instead of dwelling on it, he let himself forget about the incident for now and focus on the sing-a-long.

Maybe Will was just projecting his concerns for Nico onto everything so now that he was imagining hearing his name, but he could have _sworn_ that he heard “Nico” in the lyrics more during the entirety of the night even when it wasn’t written down in the lyrics.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [PSYCHIC FIRE](http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/File:PSYCHIC_FIRE.ogg) is the song described here (doesn't actually have the full aforementioned quote but it's close)


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, okay, so Will wasn’t the _only_ one to notice the whole ‘Nico’ thing, because it was all the rage around camp the next day – except in a way that he did not expect at all.

He was exiting the archery range after teaching a lesson when he overheard Nico’s name being thrown around in a conversation. Will’s steps halted and began again more slowly this time, ears straining to hear what they were saying.

“Nico’s literally my true love. I mean, what is there _not_ to like?” one of the girls was announcing, causing Will’s heart to almost stop.

What? There was someone in love with Nico? Well, he himself couldn’t be exactly surprised seeing that he was also heads-overs-heels with Nico but this was on another level. He was split between running away and pretending he'd never heard it or turning around to stare at whoever was speaking. He rubbed his suddenly sweaty hands together, trying to calm himself down and instead continued to eavesdrop on the conversation.

“Are you serious? Nico is actually cancer. God.”

Now Will definitely turned around to look at the guy who had spoken. If he was feeling worry before, he was definitely feeling some sort of anger now. Nobody had a right to judge Nico – heck, he didn’t even think that they _knew_ him. To use that harsh, uncaring language to describe Nico di Angelo – that was going out of line.

But before Will could stomp over there and reprimand him for talking like that about a fellow camper, the girl who had so openly declared her love for Nico fired back with a retort of her own, “You don’t understand! I mean, there’s the whole family to consider and Nico is so caring and kind towards them even with the whole masquerading around with a fake personality.” There was a pause, and then: “Also, _Umi_ is the worst to be honest.”

And with that, the entire conversation turned around, mentions of Nico forgotten. Will, feeling completely lost and also kind of offended at the whole _Nico is cancer_ thing, decided to cut his losses and walk away. There was no point dwelling on one tiny conversation, and the demigod who had declared her love so fervently _probably_ didn’t even know Nico despite citing his family history or whatever, which was kind of creepy to Will.

It would have been great if that was the last time that Will heard conversations like that, but _no_. Everyone seemed to have caught up to some ‘Nico nico nii’ craze that was driving Will up the wall. He would walk by a group of demigods who would break out in a “Nico nico nii!” complete with a cutesy pose. It was like a dichotomy happened in the camp: people who thought Nico was cancer and people who _loved_ him so very much and expressed their love through ‘Nico nico nii’s. At one point, Will heard another girl assert: “I’m gay for Nico.” It took all of his self-control not to go over there and calmly tell her that she didn’t understand the meaning of homosexuality if she was applying it to her _very straight_ situation.

Yeah, so Will wasn’t exactly sure if this was somehow his sibling’s doing, but he was almost certain that it had to do with her nonetheless. He wasn’t sure where the Nico craze came out of, since most of the campers were afraid to death (no pun intended) of the son of Hades anyway because they thought he was too gloomy and radiated death. Now there was nonstop chatter about Nico. It was like the floodgates opened during the sing-a-long last night. Gods, he was going to need a break after all this _Nico is cancer_ being thrown around; he couldn’t spend the rest of his life being offended on the other boy’s behalf.

He finally snapped at Alice Miyazawa, who was vehemently attacking Nico’s character in a conversation with Julia Feingold.

“Gods, would everybody just stop? Nico is _not_ cancer,” Will said, exasperated and annoyed that he actually had to say it. Yeah, Nico may be lying in the infirmary and clueless to all this gossip that was happening, but it was just plain rude to objectify him like somebody who didn’t belong.

Alice stared at him, her mouth opened in shock. He finally thought that someone understood the effects of their cruel words until she said, “Wait, you’re a fan?”

“What?” Will asked incredulously. “A fan? Of Nico? He’s _my friend_.”

“No, I mean–,” she began but cut off when Julia gave her a conspiring look. “Uh,” she hesitated, “I mean, never mind. Sorry, Will.”

Will huffed, crossing his arms around his chest and trying not to feel hurt that everyone was brushing this off. “Okay, well if you’re sorry then you would stop. Nico isn’t _cancer_ , okay? He’s just been feeling the effects of isolation for a long time and people don’t really give him a chance because he’s a son of Hades. He’s not a bad person, and this whole calling Nico names behind his back isn’t doing anything to make him feel welcomed here.” Will exhaled, glad to have spoken and gotten all that off his chest.

He knew he made a mistake of blurting all that out when Alice grinned widely at him. He had clearly made his feelings too obvious while he was defending Nico’s honour, and the last thing he wanted was for Alice and Julia to figure out his blatant interest in Nico. A blush bloomed on his cheeks and he looked away, trying to appear like he wasn’t thinking about it anymore. “I’ve got things to do, so just – just keep what I said in mind. Thanks.”

With that, Will hurried away, hoping that the Hermes pranksters wouldn’t do something drastic about the situation.

 

Escaping to the infirmary was his ideal plan; nobody there would be caught up in any gossiping and Nico would also be there. Sometimes they talked together whenever Nico was awake during Will’s visits and their talks helped soothe Will and reassure him that Nico was definitely recovering and not wilting away in the infirmary unbeknownst to him. So, when he entered, he was glad to see that Nico was healthy-looking and bright-eyed for a usually moody teenaged son of Hades. Nico was sitting on the bed and reading a book. When he saw Will, he closed the book and turned his attention to him.

“So, doctor Solace, do I need to sign any release forms?” There was an small but easy smile on Nico’s lips and the humorous tone to Nico’s voice made Will grin himself.

“Nah, nothing like that. You’re free to go.” Feeling bolder than usual, he cocked his head and eyed Nico, a grin making its way on his face. “Though you have overstayed your three days. I think that calls for some additional payment.”

Nico suddenly turned serious, looking at Will confusedly. “Payment?”

Heat flamed Will’s cheeks when the joke/innuendo was lost. “Uh, never mind, I was just kidding,” he said quickly. He shuffled his feet, feeling silly and a little bit shy – what was he going to do anyway if Nico caught on the innuendo? Continue egging it on until it ended in a passionate make-out session? There was no way that was going to happen here; that stuff only happened in movies. Plus, he wasn’t even sure if Nico was interested to begin with.

“Oh, okay.” The air had turned awkward as the two boys looked at each other. Nico cleared his throat. “Well… I’m just going to head back to the Hades cabin. I’ll see you around?”

That didn’t sound promising at all, but Will didn’t know what to say to make him stay, so he just nodded jerkily instead. “Yeah, probably,” he said and Nico paused to give him a small smile before he left the infirmary.

Yeah, Will couldn’t even fathom why _anybody_ would call Nico cancer after seeing that smile.

 

Nico was about to enter his cabin and spend the rest of the day moping about losing the chance to ask Will out in relatively private quarters. Each time Will had come into the infirmary, Nico _promised_ himself that he would ask him out, and each time he would fail without a doubt. “Why am I so pathetic,” he grumbled to himself, turning the door knob and opening the door.

“Yazawa Nico, desu!” someone called out behind him, all high-pitched and dragging the last syllable out. Though he wasn’t sure _what_ they were saying, he was certain that they were calling out his name and that was all he needed before he looked. He turned around, eyes landing on Alice and Julia. 

He scowled, not in a mood for pranks. “What?” Hopefully they were just here to congratulate him on his very speedy recovery and then be on their way. Unfortunately, life was not always that simple for Nico di Angelo.

His fears were confirmed when Alice and Julia looked at each other with mirroring smirks.


	4. Chapter 4

“I don’t understand why I have to do this,” Nico deadpanned.

“I don’t understand _how_ I got roped into doing this,” Drew snapped back. “Stop blinking so much.”

At Drew’s charmspeak-less demand, Nico blinked – not because he was being a jerk about it, but just because when someone told him to do something, his body would do the exact opposite. Drew huffed in annoyance, pulling the eyeliner away for a second to examine her handiwork. “Well, it looks okay – but it could have been better if you hadn’t been blinking so much.”

“Well, sorry for needing to _blink_ ,” Nico groused. Drew rolled her eyes.

“Whatever hon, this isn’t the end of it. I still need to do your eyeshadow and lipstick.” He heard Alice and Julia giggle in the background but complied obediently when Drew said, “Close your eyes; I have to put on your eyeshadow.”

He wasn’t exactly sure what the Hermes sisters were planning; they had cornered him by his cabin and told him that they needed help with a photoshoot and Nico was the perfect fit. The catch was that he had to dress up in extremely feminine clothing and basically cross-dress.

“No,” Nico had deadpanned. He couldn’t believe they were seriously thinking of dressing up _him_ , a son of Hades, as a girl.

“There’s an irony to it!” Alice had offered. “Her name is Nico Yazawa, and she pretty much thinks she’s the cutest idol in the world. Called herself everyone’s favourite idol. Nico nico nii and all that?” Julia demonstrated, putting up two hands, thumb, index and pinkie finger sticking out as she said: “Nico nico nii!”

“Okay, please stop. This is really weird,” Nico said, wanting to leave the delusion-induced situation. It was one thing when he shared the same name as a fictional anime character, it was another thing for said anime character to have a shibboleth staple that was based off his name. “I don’t really have an interest in cosplaying, if that’s what you’re talking about.” Alice opened her mouth to object again but Nico cut in sharply. “Even if she shares the same name as me but has a totally different personality.”

Alice and Julia looked at each other sadly and sighed, shaking their heads.

“So Will isn’t…?”

“Guess not.”

“So I have to tell him?”

“Unfortunately.”

“Poor guy.”

Hearing Will’s name in their vague conversation was enough to create a renewed interest. “What about Will?” Nico asked. “What does he have to do with all this?” He tried to keep his tone neutral and uncaring despite himself caring very much about the situation at hand now that Will was thrown into the equation.

They both sighed dramatically at the same time. “Nothing. If you don’t want to do it, it’s okay.”

Alice and Julia were beginning to walk away now. Nico had bit his lip, though about it, and then called out, “Wait! Wait, I think… I’ll do it.”

And that was how Nico ended up sitting on one of the picnic benches behind his cabin on a warm afternoon, waiting for Drew Tanaka (who was somehow into this whole ironic cosplay photoshoot plan) to finish up his makeup. It wasn’t that Nico didn’t know what he was getting into: he was shown screencaps of the character they wanted to portray him as: a dark-haired girl with high pigtails. In the specific scene that he was going to be dressed up as, she was wearing a pink and white dress with angel wings attached at the back.

To be completely honest, no matter the show that Nico put on of grousing and sending dark looks at the three of them, he was a _little_ bit excited. Nico had kind of wanted to wear feminine clothing back when he was younger, but he knew it was something that could probably end very badly for him considering the time period. And after emerging from Lotus Casino – well, he still had the same fear of being harassed for it. Gods know how difficult it was for Nico to come to terms with his sexuality.

So, while Alice and Julia _were_ giggling, he didn’t detect any malice. He also appreciated that they told him exactly their plans. And also the _Will_ aspect. Well – he wasn’t sure exactly what Will had to do with this entire plan, but he was fairly confident that he wouldn’t be disgusted or repulsed by Nico for dressing up feminine – or, well, dressing up as a girl.

Feeling a little giddy, Nico shifted involuntarily in his seat, causing Drew to let out a click of annoyance. “I’m almost done your lipstick. Just sit still for _one_ second.” Despite Drew’s annoyed reaction to the whole thing, Nico thought that she was quite intent on perfecting the makeup. “ _There_ ,” she said in satisfaction, stepping back to admire her work and nodding. “Now it’s time to curl your hair.”

“Um,” Nico began, “I think my hair is too short for that?”

“Don’t be silly,” Drew scoffed. “It’s long enough for something – though definitely not for the pigtails, hon.” With that, Drew took up the curling iron, almost like she was wielding a weapon. Nico winced, about to protest when Drew rolled her eyes. “Relax. I’ve curled my hair plenty of times. I’m an expert.” Though he was still eyeing the curling iron suspiciously, he let Drew begin to work on his hair.

“So what’s your whole plan?” Nico asked the Hermes sisters, who were both working on adjusting the dress that he had to wear. “Just me, uh, cosplaying, photoshoot, done?” He was attempting to prod at Will’s role in the whole thing while not mentioning his name at all.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Julia replied.

“Exactly that,” Alice said in support.

“Okay…”

There was silence that was punctuating by the sound of steam from the curling iron every time Drew started on a new strand of hair.

“Done,” Drew announced, taking a step away from Nico and admiring her handiwork. “Not going to lie, you look pretty good.”

“Does he look cute enough?” Alice asked her a little too innocently and Drew shot her an annoyed glare.

“Last time I checked, hon, _I_ was the one doing his makeup, not you.”

“Can I get a mirror or something?” Nico asked a little meekly. It had been a good half-hour of preparation and he was curious at what he looked like now.

“Of course, hon,” Drew cooed all nicely now that she wasn’t snapping at him to stop blinking or twitching or moving. She dug in her makeup case and pulled out a compact mirror, handing it over to Nico.

The first thing he noticed was how his eyes seemed to pop out dramatically due to the eyeliner. The top of his eyes were laced in a light pink that wasn’t too bright, seeming natural on his pale skin. His lips were painted a light, glossy pink. Drew probably had done something else to his skin, because there was a kind of _glow_ to it.

His mouth felt dried – this was him. This was _really_ him. He was…cute, in an utterly feminine way and something about this was completely thrilling. This would have been taboo in the 1940’s – he’d probably be _more_ than just harassed about it. But now he was sitting here at a picnic table underneath the afternoon light with three teenaged girls voicing their approval.

He stood up and turned to look at Alice and Julia who had laid out the dress on the picnic table. Even though he knew that both of them had encouraged this, he still couldn’t help feeling a little shy.

“Ready to wear this?” Julia asked, indicating to the dress on the table. Nico stared at it: the light pink frills of the sleeves, the white gloves, the ribbons and bows, the bubbles, the lace, and the white angel wings attached at the back. He swallowed, looking up at the two girls who were looking up at him with expectant smiles.

“I guess so,” Nico murmured, pulling at the lace at the bottom of the dress. “I’ll go change in my cabin.” He pulled the dress towards himself, hoping that it wasn’t too tight by the looks of that waistline.

“Sure, we’ll just wait here,” Alice chimed in with a grin.

 

The moment that Nico disappeared into his cabin, Alice and Julia began discussing their plan.

“Did you notify Solace?”

“Done and done – no distractions at all, and we all know that he puts Nico as his top priority.”

Drew crossed her arms over her chest. “Honestly, I’m telling you that the two of them would have gotten together at some point even without your help. Trust me.”

“Yeah, but we’re speeding it up by playing a helping hand,” Alice rebutted. “Plus, with the whole Love Live rage going on courtesy to last night’s sing-a-long – well we just saw the perfect opportunity to dress up Nico di Angelo as Nico Yazawa.”

“So are you two freaks going to stay and watch?” Drew asked, narrowing her eyes at the two of them.

Julia shook her head. “Nope, we’ll all know tomorrow if it works out. They need to _privacy_ to figure it out.” Alice let out a snort at those words and Julia elbowed her.

“Okay, whatever, hon. I’m out of here,” Drew said, taking her makeup bag and beginning to leave. She paused and then turned around to look at the two of them. “You owe me a favour though.”

“Sure, sure,” Alice said. “Don’t pretend that you didn’t enjoy the whole endeavor.”

Drew huffed, unable to protest and stalked away while Alice and Julia laughed at her expense.

 

Nico heard knocking on the door of his cabin shortly after he had gotten the whole outfit on. The Hermes sisters had done a good job of adjusting the dress so that it wasn’t too tight or loose in different areas. He had been staring at himself in the mirror, turning around a little bit to look at the back of his dress and touching the two pink hairbows on his head, wondering why he felt so nervous and thrilled about the whole attire.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m coming,” Nico muttered, heading over to the door and opening it wide to greet –

“Will!” Nico yelped out, staring at the other boy in shock who was staring back with an equivalent expression.

“Nico?” Will asked slowly, in utter disbelief like he didn’t believe that the person standing in front of him was actually Nico. He stared at the wings that protruded out of Nico’s back and then looked at his entire outfit, seemingly rendered speechless.

“Y-yeah. Nico Yazawa,” he blurted out and then realized that Will had no idea who or what Nico Yazawa was. “That girl. Nico nico nii and all.”

Oh gods, he said the cursed phrase. He felt himself blush harder, but he still couldn’t find the courage to slam the door on Will and pretend that none of this was happening. Sure, he didn’t think Will would _judge_ him for wearing something like this, but Will was clearly shocked and not expecting any of this. While Nico wasn’t ashamed per se, it was still embarrassing. “Anyway, why are you here?” Nico asked, going slightly on the defensive side, crossing his arms around his chest and half-wishing that he could shadow-travel out of here.

“I was told by Julia that you said you were feeling ill so I came over as soon as I finished dealing with someone in the infirmary,” Will explained, eyes roaming all over Nico, taking in his outfit and his face. Of course it was Julia; of _course_ it had something to do with the Hermes sisters. They did say it involved Will after all, though they had totally led Nico on by wording it in a certain way that made Nico think that Will himself wanted to see him cosplay too. “And? Nico Yazawa? Is this what the whole thing is about?”

Nico laughed weakly, high-pitched and strained. “I don’t know; something about an anime girl named Nico that everyone has been obsessed with recently. Alice and Julia thought it would be…interesting for me to dress up as her.” He paused, deciding that this was the time to be bold. Heck, he was already dressed up as a girl in front of Will, might as well go even further. “How do I look?” he said, glad that his voice sounded considerably calmer than before and had lowered to a pitch near his normal range.

Will scratched the back of his neck. “I’m not exactly interested in girls, but I think you look…good. Really good.” Was that just Nico’s eyes or was Will blushing? Nico squinted and – yeah he was definitely blushing, averting his eyes from Nico, head tilted downwards.

At that knowledge, Nico felt a little braver. “How about the makeup? Looks okay?”

Will’s eyes darted to Nico’s face, resting on his glossy lips before looking away to the side again. “It’s better than okay.”

“And what do you think of this entire…thing?” Nico finally rushed to ask, tripping his words over one another. His heart was beating a rhythm against his ribcage and the palms of his hands were moist. Nico hoped that Will wasn’t weirded out by it: the son of Hades, makeup painting his face, slightly curled hair, and wearing a strange pink dress. Surely this ranked on one of the stranger things that he’s seen in his life. “I mean… Gods, okay I’m just going to take this off.” He retreated into his cabin, taking a step back and desperate to get this costume _off_ and just be _normal_ for once in his life. He cast his eyes down, not wanting to see Will’s expression.

“Hey, no,” Will protested, taking a step in and closing the distance between them. “I think it actually looks great. If you like it, that’s fine. There’s no shame in liking this. I think it’s…kind of cute.” Nico looked back at Will, tilting his head and squinting. Will let out a nervous laugh, rubbing a hand on his cheek and averting his eyes again. “I mean… I like the usual you better, but if this is something you like, then by all means, do it.”

The encouragement made Nico’s heartbeat flutter and an involuntary wide smile made its way on his lips. “You like the usual me _better_?”

“No! I mean, yes. I mean – no,” Will stammered. “I meant to say that… I like you.” The words were barely audible and he tried to quickly cover it up by saying, “But dressing up like this is also great too! Sorry for interrupting you, but I have to head over to the infirmary now to, to–“

“You like me?” Nico interrupted before Will could make a speedy getaway.

Will was staring at him now, wide-eyed and frozen like a deer in headlights. “Um.”

Nico was smiling now as he took another step closer to Will so that he could feel the other boy’s breath on his skin. “Do you like me?” Nico asked, his voice calm and steady despite his racing heartbeat. He moved a hand to touch Will’s elbow lightly.

“Yes,” Will breathed out, and Nico leaned forward and closed the distance between their lips.

 

**Bonus Scene**

Nico: Nico is actually cancer wtf I hate her

Will: omg please this is so weird to listen to

Nico: *Watches S02Ep4*

Nico:

Nico: Okay maybe I don’t hate her anymore

Nico: Kind of reminds me of Bianca

Nico: only a little bit

Nico: a tiny bit

Nico:

Will:

Nico: okay she’s my favourite leave me alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nico is wearing the outfit shown in [here](http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/File:S2Ep04_00325.png) and [here](http://love-live.wikia.com/wiki/File:S2Ep04_00295.png).
> 
> The game mentioned is called **Love Live! School Idol Festival** , a game based off the Love Live! School Idol Project and Love Live! Sunshine!! (its' sequel) anime franchise. It's super gay and I recommend watching it if you can ignore the pops-up-every-once-a-while fanservice towards their targeted fanbase in Japan (which are straight dudes ;-;)  
> Nico Yazawa, mentioned, is a self-proclaimed "cutest idol in the universe" in the first series but she's fake af. If y'all play the game, hmu to add me it's literally all I play these days.
> 
> I still feel very rusty after writing this, so feel free to send me prompts or single-word prompts on my tumblr.


End file.
